OUGD504 - Primary Research: Book Binding

Pamphlet stitch
Pamphlet stitch is a simple stitch where only three holes are required in the folded pieces of paper. One hole is in the middle, and the other two are either side at a distance of about half way to the end. From here you sew through these three hole and tie a knot, either on the inside or outside, depending on where you start the stitch.

This is a quick and easy stitch which seems to hold well and definitely has it's benefits. It works very well and looks smart and is definitely something I will consider using in the future. It is economical and shows exactly how little is needed to hold a booklet together.

Concertina binding
Concertina binding doesn't require any stitching, just glue and a very clear understanding of exactly how this layout works when making it with design.
It is a simple process of folding paper in half and putting them back to back, alternating the direction of the fold each time. These are then glued together and left to dry, preferably under a press to keep the pages together well.
While this is drying you make the cover, which involves using grey board and Buckram. The Buckram is measured out to be at least 2cm larger than the board on each side, and once the corners are cut off, it is folded around the board and stuck on using PVA glue.
Once this is done, gluing this to the front and back pages of the concertina is the last thing to do.

I found this binding the most useful as it shows a quick and effective way of making a concertina where you can move around the page order until you are happy with it. When working on a booklet digitally, you have to think about the order the pages will go when printing otherwise it won't work as intended. For this, double page spreads are all that are needed. It looks smart and is definitely something I will use in the future.

Japanese stab binding
This type of binding is something which is not new to me as I have been using this for around two years, but as it was part of the workshop I did it anyway. Stab binding is a way of binding single pages together. No folding is necessary, but you must design with at least a 1cm margin along the inside margin otherwise it will be covered in the spine. It is a simple process of making holes through all the pages 1cm away from the edge and at an even space between each hole.
Stitching is then done between the holes, a running stitch along the length, as well as stitching around the spine to hold it all together.

As I have known this stitching for a while I know it is a useful one to know. It makes it easy to design as you only have to think about a single page and not a double page spread to print. It allows you to switch around pages and the visible stitching adds a little more to presentation. I have used this a lot in the past and will continue to use it in the future.